Perfect Sound Forever

PSF's 2018 Writers' Poll
Our favorite things


Michelle Gurevich, Janelle Monae, Orlando Cela, Sonny Rollins

Even in a digital age, we music nuts still crave collections of songs a/k/a albums. And why not? Artists big & small still put them out despite the time limitations of vinyl and CD’s that are now gone. The formula to making a good album is simple (a nice round-up of tunes) and yet allusive as so many bad albums prove. But then again, it’s all subjective- one person’s garbage is someone else’s gold. We here at PSF still love our albums, new and old so each writer below wants to share their faves from 2018. As always, maybe you’ll agree with some choices, disagree with others and learn about some music that you didn’t know about before.


Daniel Barbiero

Best album of improvised music:
Clairvoyance (Gianni Mimmo, Adriano Orru & Silvia Corda) Clairvoyance

Best album of composed music:
Daniele Roccato & Ludus Gravis Stefano Scodanibbio: Alisei



Cat Celebrezze



David Chriko



Pete Crigler

This year was interesting. Not only did I undergo many personal challenges, I found a lack of great and amazing music that really blew my mind. Maybe it’s the lack of anything new and exciting and because rock and roll is no longer what it used to be. Rock music just isn’t what it used to be and there’s been a severe lack of anything else that’s really interested me this year. With that being said what follows are an unranked list of the best of what’s around from this year.

Best Songs of the Year




Ben Dyment



Jason Gross

All the rest of my 2018 faves (including books, movies, videos) are here on my blog.



Lloyd Green, David Myhr, Daniel Bachman, A Perfect Circle


Jim Hayes



Kortney Jmaeff

What a great year for music- and all genres to boot! I don't want to use the term "comeback" but lots of amazing veteran artists clocking in with tight releases. This includes Low, Swamp Dogg, Moby, Melvins, Andrew WK, Eels, and many more! I had to prune my list back from over 100 amazing choices! I hope 2019 shapes up to be the same deal! Can't wait!



Ibrahim Khider

Mos Emvy aka Cincinnati, Ohio-based Bryan McCorvey is someone worth listening in a tsunami of sound and his music is available for free via the BlocSonic net label, hosted by the mighty Archive.org. Starting with the Next to Me EP released in 2016, the deft melding of lush electronic music production and smooth lyrical delivery brought the realization, 'this is not your average hip-hop.' Apparently, McCorvey's dad is both an independent music producer and electronic music enthusiast who shared these interests with his son and perhaps guided said fresh directions. There is something there for lovers of both hip hop and electronic genres. 2018’s, full-length offering, Mantra, largely keeps to the idea of melding the two genres, exemplified in tracks like the synth-driven "Come Back" and the whirlwind-like "Forever" with its industrial-style backing vocals. There are flirtations with dubstep, grime and even Industrial, though understated. "Away" on the other hand, is closer to conventional Hip Hop and there is already more than enough of that, not that it is a bad track, far from it. This listener hopes Mos Emvy stick to his electronic palette when crafting melodies and textures and keep pleasantly surprising us.

Mos Emvy, Next to Me EP (2016) https://archive.org/details/BS450033

Forever EP (2017) https://archive.org/details/BS450035

Hands Held High EP (2017) https://archive.org/details/BS450037

Mantra (2018) https://archive.org/details/BSMX0175

Confusion EP (2018) https://archive.org/details/BS450039



Dave Lang



Robert Pally



Marc Phillips



Bart Plantenga



Cupcakke, Burn the Priest, Tim Hecker, Mos Emvy


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